Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1887-06-28
aApPGNG EOR TAE DEAD.
III w the Imprisoned Miners |

| come from nIDe Is When lmpriS
oned miners knock on the face O
the drift to tell tie outsiders how
many of the imprisoned party ar,
dead
The rock conducts sound fo'
some distance, and it Is custom
with miners who are shut up anG
dying t. communicate with the
outer world by hamuering on the
rock.
The poor fellows in the Curry
communicated with the rescuing
party in this way:
The men who worked with the
rescuing party say that they heard
these raps from the inside. The
fire took place ABOUT Z o'clock and
when Superintendent Patton had
figured out where was the nearest
point to the end of the drift on the
800, those who went TO the spot
heard about 9 o'clock FIVE heavy
raps as if delivered with a strong
hand. Later on were four raps but
fainter. At little after midnight
came three faint raps, and the men
who heard them knew that the end
was near. After l o'clock one of
the miners In the rescuing party
thought he heard two taps. but so
faint that the others could not hear.
This was SATURDAY. morning. Since
then there has been no sound, al
though often the men stopped work
long enough to listen.
The last call up the shaft was
bell rung from the 1.G0 level The
idea Is that one Of the party fought
his way to the shaft and pulled the
bell rope, but was unable to get
back to his comrades at the end OF
the air pipe Thus the first strong
rap on the wall Of i've strokes indi
Gated that one man was missing
The air sent down the blower forces
the gas back. but it steals in grad
ualiy and minEles vita the air. and
as 1t oyercomes the victims they
gradually fail into stupor aad
then uie.
No man will ever know what
these men sald To each othrr ia
lie while before the emf. They
must have studied the situation
calmly at first, aud after Calculating
all the chances G.ured out that
The ouly productof the problem was
1eath.
Nothing more horrible can be i'm
igIued than men s,ttln- down hour
alter houf In he darkness, listen
ng to the steauy claus OF the picks
md drills aud the uun boom at the
blasts only few ircI away aud
realizing that their comraues can
lot peuetIdJt tux ItCh belhfe tut
ieadly gas has accumpi> hed its
work. The thoughts al these men
must have reverted t. their faml-
les above ground, but whether
hey gave way unuer the dreadful
strain or faced the Inevitable with |
/ miners furtItude aud stoiclsm
will never he known. fhrsr are
ecrets which tie caverus of the
,ocks will hold forever.
There are many bitter feud<
lmong the miners of the Com >tucS,
,ut the instant life is In peril al! |
lnlmositles are su nix la the pres
,nce of death, and often times a
nan will be working among the
escuing party until he Is ready to
lrop with exhaustion, when among
he men inside may be one who
las been his bitter enemy.
A mining man on the Com took
OH the writer yesterday that
lie knew of secret feud between
40 men, one of whom was
mpiisoned In the mine, and the
ther was one of the rescuing party
n The outside. But to see that
nan work one would never suspect
hat he was not seeking to rescue
rs brother.
These dreadful catastrophes in
he mines have a softening effect
~ the miners, and it speaks wellfor
he manhood of the men that often
lines IN the face of these calami
les the bitterness of years is
iped out III an hour. Two enc
lies go into the rescuiug drift,